Rugby
After a sour weekend for Irish sports the Under-20 rugby team finally gave us something to celebrate yesterday evening as they beat Argentina to reach Saturday’s World Cup final.
Between our late collapse in South Africa, the Belgium defeat and Shane Lowry's final day woes in the US Open - it's been a tough few days but Nigel Carolan's side left victory in no doubt and their 37-7 win sets up a decider against hosts England.
Ahead of Saturday's third and final test against South Africa, and off the back off last weekend's defeat - Irish rugby head coach Joe Schmidt has defended his substitution tactics despite letting a final quarter 26-10 lead slip.
“It’s never as simple as just putting players on and saying, ‘oh, he’ll freshen things up’. You’re always looking at the players who are on there, and the feedback we were getting was that ‘they’re okay and they can keep going’.”
Soccer: Euro 2016
Wales pipped the English to top spot in Group B - with a 3-0 win over Russia putting them a point ahead of England who were held in a scoreless draw against Slovakia. Ken Early was there, and not all that impressed - "England against Slovakia was like a mid-season international friendly, with fewer substitutions."
Addressing Ireland's must-win game against Italy on Wednesday Roy Keane has called upon his players to deliver the performance of their lives. "You run and you run and you run . . . you keep going, keep going until the game is over and after the game don't worry if you're shattered, we'll carry you off the pitch."
GAA
Meanwhile in his weekly Irish Times column this morning Jim McGuinness believes that Mayo have reached the defining moment of their era - and after Saturday's defeat to Galway they now have to prove everyone wrong and push on.
“It is a tantalising question. And it won’t become immediately evident. The big quest is still there for Mayo but they are on a different road now. So how will they respond to what has been a serious jolt to their collective conviction and ambition?”
What to watch out for
Northern Ireland face World Champions Germany in their final group game looking to build on the three points picked up against Ukraine.
RTE 2 from 4pm
Also kicking off at 5pm is the other final Group C fixture - Ukraine face Poland.
TV3 from 4pm
There are four Euro 2016 games in total this evening - at 8pm Czech Republic face Turkey.
RTE 2 from 7.30pm
While reigning champions Spain look to take maximum points from Group D with a win over Croatia.
UTV from 7.30pm
